Baja Traffic Tickets Revamped to Ease Tourist Fears : Mexico: Officials hope bilingual tickets that allow fines for minor violations to be paid by mail will also reduce police corruption.

Authorities in Tijuana and elsewhere in Baja California, eager to draw U.S. visitors and investors to a region with a reputation for vice and corruption, have developed a novel attraction: hassle-free traffic citations, written in English and Spanish.

In a pilot program initiated in Tijuana earlier this month, foreign motorists cited for non-criminal violations--such as running stop signs or red lights, speeding and parking illegally--are issued bilingual tickets enumerating fines that can be paid by mail. Violators are advised to forward checks or money orders to a special post office box in San Diego.

“We think this will benefit everyone--our officers, the tourists, and our city’s image,” explained Julian Dominguez Arce, chief of the municipal transit police in Tijuana.

He and others expressed hope that the program could reduce instances in which traffic officers attempt to extort on-the-scene payments from motorists--a time-honored tradition south of the border, one that victimizes many more Mexican citizens than foreign visitors. But the new system is designed solely for tourists, an indication of the continuing campaign to attract foreign visitors.

The new system, based on the U.S. system for driving infractions, simply requires motorists to sign the citation, two copies of which remain with the issuing officers; violators keep the third copy. Once home, they may simply mail the payments to the post office box. Or, they may choose to challenge the infraction before adjudicators at state transit police offices in Baja.

Before the new system was instituted, tourists and others cited for infractions were required, in theory, to accompany officers to the transit headquarters. There, the accused could either pay the fine or argue the case before an adjudicator. Many feared ending up in jail.

Many motorists, accustomed to the system, offer bribes even before the lawmen solicit them, leaving low-paid Mexican police with little incentive to follow the established legal process.

Fear of such encounters have long been one of the principal barriers discouraging tourists from visiting Tijuana and other Mexican border cities. Many motorists have complained of being thrown in jail in Tijuana for refusing to pay on the spot for questionable infractions.

“The police are attempting to recover the confidence lost to corruption,” said Victor Clark Alfaro, who heads a Tijuana-based binational human rights group that has investigated numerous cases involving allegations of official abuse. “This won’t eliminate corruption, but it is a form of protection for tourists who know about it.”

Tijuana, with a population of more than 1 million, is one of the world’s most dynamic border towns. Each year, more than 50 million visits by car and foot are recorded from the neighboring United States, authorities say.

For Mexican officials, the new citation policy offers a bonus: Money from fines is actually arriving at the Tijuana municipal treasury, where it is to be used for purchasing much-needed police equipment and, eventually, to raise salaries. (Starting traffic officers in Tijuana earn about $90 a week, Dominguez said.)

“With this system, the city will finally get the money,” noted Alfonso Bustamante, federal tourism delegate for Baja California, who spearheaded the new traffic-ticket system in an effort to induce visits by wary foreign tourists. “Before, a lot of money just wasn’t coming in.”

Tourism and government officials in Tijuana and other Baja cities have long been attempting to shed the region’s “sin city” image and, instead, have been actively marketing the area as a center of international investment and first-class entertainment.

The ticket program, which began in early August in Tijuana, will spread to municipal police departments throughout the state by Sept. 1, Bustamante said. About 300 such citations have already been issued to tourists in Tijuana, police say.

Mexican officials acknowledge that the effort is unlikely to eliminate corruption, as officers seeking to supplement their meager pay can still attempt shakedowns--and some motorists may opt to offer bribes.

“The institutional causes of corruption are still there,” noted Clark, the rights activist.

However, he and others voice the hope that the switch in payment methods will reduce the problem.

Official fines for municipal traffic infractions in Baja California range from the equivalent of about $4 for parking violations to about $25 for speeding.

The expedited ticket system applies only to non-criminal violations. Motorists suspected of driving while intoxicated or those involved in accidents and other more serious incidents will still have to accompany lawmen to headquarters, authorities said. Also required to visit the department are motorists lacking driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations.